A Polish far-right group wants to create a register of Muslims in the country. The Polish Defense League says they will publish addresses and pictures of those practicing Islam in order to “protect” the country against the threat they allegedly pose.

The plan, which they have called ‘Muslimwatch,’ has chilling
similarities to segregation policies in Poland in the late 1930s,
according to a former Polish Imam.

“The initiative by the Polish Defense League (PDL) reminds me
of the ‘Ghetto Benches’ before the war. We all know how that
ended after 1939. The same could happen here. Someone will think
of an Auschwitz for Muslims. It’s dangerous,” said Selim
Chazbijewicz, who is a Polish Tatar and the former Imam for the
Muslim community in Gdansk.

Ghetto Benches were a form of segregation used in the 1930’s,
which forced Jews in a number of universities to sit apart from
the other students.

Dariusz Mazurek, head of the PDL, said on his Facebook page that
the organization wants to create an online platform, which would
contain a database of Polish Muslims. This would include
information about where they live, work and photographs.

“Citizens have a right to know where Muslims live. We will be
publishing their addresses and their names,” he said.

Mazurek says this was not the PDL’s initiative, rather he claims
it has the backing of the Polish people. He told the Polish
website NaTemat.pl that he is hoping the public will do their bit
to get the database started, while adding that if Muslims found
this offensive, they were welcome to take him to court.

“Every citizen of our country could take pictures of a
Muslim, say in a car with a registration plate. Or they could
take a picture of a group of Muslims in a bar, or another place
where they might meet, be it in a cultural center or a mosque.
These pictures will then be uploaded to the website,” the
leader of the PDL said.

The PDL, who have closed links to the anti-Muslim English Defence
League, says the website is currently being built and will be
launched “very soon.” The idea is similar to the
‘Redwatch’ website, set up by the far-right British People’s
Party to reveal the identities of anti-fascists and socialists.

“Everyone has the right to know where a potential terrorist
lives – be it in the same area, or a floor below. Educated people
took part in the July 2005 terrorist attacks in Britain. The 9/11
terrorist attacks were carried out by a psychiatrist. A terrorist
does not mean a member of the Taliban walking in a long robe. It
can apparently be a normal and educated person,” Mazurek
said.

Chazbijewicz is debating the legality of the proposed
‘Muslimwatch,’ saying he believes it will fall foul of Poland’s
data protection laws.

“Such a register would be against the law. Poland is a
democratic and secular country. I am sure the PDL will try and
implement this, but I hope the response from the authorities will
be quick,” the former Gdansk Imam said.

Poland has one of the smallest Muslim community’s in Europe, with
between 20,000 and 40,000 living in the country, including 3,000
Tatars. The Polish Tatar population has long been established in
Poland, after settling during the Middle Ages.

However, a recent poll conducted by the Centre for Public Opinion
Research, based in Warsaw, found that 44 percent of Poles have a
negative view of Muslims, while 64 percent of respondents in the
2015 survey say Muslims are intolerant of customs and values
other than their own.

“Actions taken against Muslims are something new in Poland.
They are targeting a tiny fraction of the population, who make up
less than a percent. This is dangerous and we will notify the
police,” Rafal Pankowski, from the group Nigdy Wiecej (Never
Again), told the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.

“This is a paradox in terms of what is happening in a
country, which is now ethnically homogenous, though in the past
it was known for being multicultural,” he added.

This is not the first time the PDL have tried anti-Islam stunts.
In December 2013, they started patrols in large cities to
“observe how Muslims behave and to intervene,” read a
statement on its official website.

The PDL said it would warn Polish women about the
“threats” of getting involved with Muslim men, the
Gazeta Wyborcza reported.

A post on the PDL’s website described a visit to a nightclub in
Warsaw, where activists from the organization were “defending
the honor of Polish women,” after seeing Muslims dancing
with Polish girls.

"We walked between the dancers and parted them. This was much
more effective than simply talking to the ladies," the
website says, as citied by thenews.pl.

The PDL’s paranoia of Islam even went as far initiating a
so-called, “bacon action” against Muslims, which saw the
organization send pieces of pork to an Islamic cultural center.